Tube compressor

ABSTRACT

An apparatus mainly characterized as a compressor for collapsible tubes but also serving as a can opener has pressing members forced together and separated by an arrangement used for forcing a slitter and a feeder of a can opener to and fro each other.

United States Patent 1 Thoren 1 June 5, 1973 [54] TUBE COMPRESSOR [75] Inventor: Karl Oskar Birger Thoren, Vad- [56] References and Stem! S UNITED STATES PATENTS [731 Assigneel Olaf Thoren Parkgatan, 2,687,827 8/1954 McGilchristetal ..222/s1 Huskvarna, Sweden 2,257,549 9 1941 Froelich ..30/9 3,265,249 8/1966 Jansson ..222/101 [22] 1972 3,606,090 9 1971 Byers ..222 102 [21] Appl. No.: 229,717

Primary ExaminerR0bert B. Reeves r '1 E -H. J [30] Foreign Application Priority Data an xammer Gram Skaggs r Mar. 1, 1971 Sweden ..2551 71 ABSTRACT An apparatus mainly characterized as a compressor [52] US. Cl. ..222/192, 222/81, 222/102, for collapsible tubes but also Serving as a can opener 30/9 has pressing members forced together and separated [51] 111i. Cl. ....'......B65d 35/28 y an arrangement used for forcing a sliner and a [58] Fleld of Search ..222/192, 82, 102, feeder of a can Opener to and fro each omen 15.5 10 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTEDJUH 5 I975 SHEET 2 [IF 2 TUBE COMPRESSOR This invention relates to mechanical apparatus for dispensing the contents in collapsible tubes and provides a tube compressor of a kind having a pair of pressing members, one displaceable against the other, e. g. a roller and a presser plate which are adapted to squeeze the tube so that its contents is compressed in direction to the discharge opening in the front end of the tube.

From prior art it is known how to make portable apparatus provided with two cooperating pressing members, such as rollers or plates adapted to be forced together by means of a lever mechanism or the like, on both sides of a tube end inserted in the apparatus. The pressing power must reach a considerable value, and the mechanism for achieving such power must necessarily have a considerable size, and therefore the apparatus appears to be bulky and inconvenient to handle. In fact, only the last portion of the contents in the tube is so difficult to squeeze out that auxiliary means has to be used. Thus there is no reason to use an apparatus adapted to be fit to the tube all the time, when, in substitution, an apparatus designed for the purpose of squeezing this last portion of the contents to the discharge end of the tube could be used.

It is also priorly known to make other apparatus, e. g. can openers, in which a couple of feeding means is forced together on both sides of an object to be treated. Thus, the function of a tube compressor provided with two pressing members is closely allied with the function of other in housekeeping used apparatus. It would be a technical and economical improvement, if the best features of similar apparatus could be applied to the tube compressor, or if the features of the tube compressor could improve the function of the other apparatus.

By the present invention a tube compressor is presented which also can serve as a can opener and thus fullfil two important tasks in housekeeping. In both these functions it is important that the feeding means and the pressers can be pressed together by a considerable force. The mechanism required for transfering such force has to be robust in order to resist the mechanical stress. From this point of view it is to advantage if the feeding means and/or the pressers can be journalled on a shaft supported in two widely separated bearings so that no heavy lateral forces have to be taken up by only one or two closely positioned bearings, when the shaft is rotated by a crank or a handle.

As a tube as well as a can is shortly treated in the apparatus which afterwards can be kept in retirement, the apparatus may be made in a size corresponding to the requirement on strength and simple handling of the same. An apparatus mainly characterized as a tube compressor but also serving as a can opener shall according to this invention combine the features of a tube compressor and a can opener so that the pressing members together also constitute a cutting means of a can opener providing a slitter and a feeder which also are forced together and separated by means of the same device as the one usedfor forcing the pressing members to and fro each other.

Special embodiments of tube compressors according to the invention will be described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawing of which FIG. 1 shows a tube compressor from the front FIG. 2 a section through the tube compressor along the line II II in FIG. 1

FIG. 3 a side view of the left side of the tube compressor in FIG. 1

FIG. 4 a variation of the tube compressor shown in FIG. 1

FIG. 5 a section through the tube compressor in FIG. 4 along the line V V, FIG. 6 a detail of such a tube compressor,

FIGS. 7 and 8 another embodiment of a tube compressor and details thereof FIGS. 9 and 10 a variation of a tube compressor and a side view thereof.

The body 1 of the apparatus has a shaft 2 and a cross piece 3. The shaft may either be fit in a holder on a support or held in the hand of a person using the apparatus. Two parallel plates 4, 5 are sequred to the cross piece with the purpose of carrying the moveable parts of the apparatus. According to FIG. 1 these parts are constituted of a roller 6 and a feeding wheel 7 which are sequred to an axis 8 provided with a crank 9. This one has a roller handle 10 in one end and a flange 11 in the other so that the axis 8 can be ground or, eventually, wrung by means of the crank. The roller 6 belongs to the tube compressor and the feeding wheel 7 to the can opener. The axis 8 is displaceable crosswise to its axial direction in slots 12 in the plates 4, 5, so that the roller and the wheel can be brought closer to or apart from members cooperating with each one of this roller and wheel. As to the roller this member is constituted of a presser plate 13 in the basis of the cross piece, and as to the wheel a slitter 14 journalled on a pin 15 protruding from the cross piece. An outer layer on the roller is made of rubber or the like and has a rifled or knurled surface which gives the roller a high friction against a tube end inserted in the apparatus. The basis of the cross piece has a rifled section 16 against which the roller rolls, when it is moved by rotation from a position at one end of the slots 12 to another position along the slots. The axis 8 of the roller remains perpendicular to the plates 4, 5 all the time during such movements.

When the axis slides in the slots 12 during a displacement of the roller from one end of the slots to the other, the feeding wheel 7 follows. In the position of the wheel shown in FIG. 3 it is near to and at the inside of the slitter 14. The wheel and the slitter can be separated by displacing the axis to the opposite end of the slots 12. As the roller is in contact with the rifled section 16, it is moved in the direction from the section, when the axis 8 is rotated anti-clockwise and vice versa. When the roller is furthest away from the presser plate 13 it is rolled off the section 16 a little bit so that an interspace is formed between the roller and the cross piece 3 and thus a tube end can easily be inserted between the roller and the cross piece. During this furthest bit of the movement the feeding wheel 7 has in stead contact with a shoulder 17 projecting from the plate 4, and the axis 8 is thus moved to and fro the ends 18 of the slots by means of the wheel 7 and said shoulder, when it is rotated anti-clockwise or clockwise, respectively.

In order to prevent the roller from moving from the presser plate 13 to the rifled section 16, when the crank is turned, there may be arranged a latch 21, FIG. 6, between the plate 13 and the section 16 close to the plate 5. The latch is rotatably journalled on a pin 22 projecting from the body and is automatically operated by the of thelatch.

force, when the roller has a position on one of the sides The mode of operation of the apparatus is as follows;

The axis is rotated clockwise (FIG. 2) by rneans of the crank 9, whereupon the roller comes in contact with,

the tube material which issqueezed between therollerf ratefrome'ach other,.when' it is'rotated jtheotherdirection. Such a couplingcanbeoperated by means of ahandle orcou'pled tooneof the axis by means ofa i dummyveoupling which engages and disengages, re spective ly; theegteente rcoupling in the'two enclpositionsofthe; crosswise movementof the 'displaceable atube end is inserted from the left (FIGI in itheslit I between the rollerand the cross piece which ise stablished when the axis8 is set against the slot erids l 8.

and the section 16, whenthe roller is still morcrotated. The axis is then displaced in the slots 1210 the opposite end thereof, and in the position of the roller shown in the figures the tube material is squeezed between the roller and the presserplate 13. When the roller is still more rotated the tube material slides againstthe presser plate compressing the contents in thetubeto the discharge end of the tube, which is suitably. closed by means of a tube cap.[When all the 3 contents is squeezed up the roller is rotated anti-clockwisetFIG;

. rhllerin dependence of the direction of rotation of the crank An embodiment ofa tube compressor provided I with a can opener ahd having such an excentencou-f pling ijsxshown in FIGS. vanes. In a pair of acconioda-.

itions 23 tdclose to the plates'4, 5, respectively, at the f ends ofthe .crosspiece 3 mechanisms are positioned, each oneincluding a flat piece 24, which fays close to the plate andisslidable thereon. In its top the flat piece f {is penetrated of the axis 20, on which the rollerl9 and the slitter 14are journalled, and in its bottom the flat piece has a circular opening 25 anda semicircular guide "rib 26. In theopening fits an excenter disk 27, \vhichis thicker than the. flat piece 24 and has an excentrically positioned hole 28 for the shaft 8, and an exis cess 29 in its periphery. Before the excenter disk is a 2), whereby the axis 8 is displaced in directionto the slot ends 18. When the axis is stopped at .the seends the I driving plate 30 positioned on the shaft. It has an oblong hole 31 and thus able to move in its longitudinal i direction," but otherwise connected to the shaft. More over, there are adog 32 fitting in the excess 29 and a catch 33 flanged of the material of the driving plate.

FIGS. 4 and 5. The body of the apparatus shown 1 therein has a shaft 2 and a cross piece3 with a rifled section 16 in its basis, but the presser plate 13 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is missing. The, roller 6 now engages with a counterpressure roller l9 which is journalled on an axis 20 fastened in each end to the plates 4 and 5, paralle lly with the axis8; whe n posi tioned as shown in the figures the roller6presses against the roller 19,and the axis 8 isrotated,the 'roller 19 is driven around its axis. During rotation the roller 6 is not subjected to friction against a fix surface (as when the roller engages with the presser plate l3 shown in FIG. 2) which facilitates the rotation. T he displace-"#0 ment of the roller 6 from the counterpressure roller to 12 it is'able to pull out the tube, or can, treatedin the apparatus by way of forming an interspace between the members of the tube compressor and the can opener,

respectively. The feeding wheel 7thus guidethe move ment of the roller 6 into the rifled section from both directions; thus from the end 18 of the slots 12 by friction against the shoulder 17 and from the other end by fric tion against a can treated in the apparatus. When a tube The shaft 8 thus enters holes in the driving plate 30, the

excenter disk 27 and the plates 4, 5, which in this embodimenthave round holes for the shaft 8. Above these holes the axis20 enters other holes in the plates 4, 5 which holes are oblong inthe vertical direction.

I The working modeiof the mechanism is as follows: whensthe shaft isrotatedclockwise from the shown position, thedriving plate drives the excenter disk around as the dog32 meshes the excess 29, thereby displacingjtheflat piecedownwards so that the roller 19 approaches the'roller 6,and the slitter l4 approaches thewheel 7 .When the shaft 8 has rotated through half f a re iolution, the catch 33 hits against the end of the V j guide rib :26 and the driving plateis then displaced in its longitudinal direction downwards, so that the dog 32 9 j enters'an interspace between the guide rib and theexc- .entendiskJThe disk stops'then afterpassing through half a revolution, then if the shaft is further rotatedQ; Both the tube compressor and the can opener are now in closed conditionQBy rotation of the shaft antithej bottom ofthe accomodation23, when the catch 33 has passed the guide rib26. When the shaft is still rotated, the excenter disk isreset to the shown position,

andlthe tube. compressor members as well as the can is inserted in the apparatus the friction between the g tube material and the roller 6 may help to move the roller to the rifled section from any of the ends of the slots dependent on the direction of rotation. g,

The described embodiments of a tube compressor according to the invention has an uncomplicated, robust and reliable construction. There are, however, much more complicated mechanisms for forcing pressing members together in use, e. g., an excenter coupling joining the axis of the rollers and having a working mode in which the rollers come closer to each other, when the excenter is rotated in one direction, and sepaopener members areseparated.

In another embodiment the excenter coupling is operated by means of a handle 35 as shown in dashed lines in FIG. 7. The handle is bifurcated and has a branch 26 to each excenter disk 27. The working mode is such that the excenter disks are rotated through some half a revolution, when the handle is shut from the shown position against the. leg 2, thus pulling the roller 19 and the slitter 14 against the roller 6 and the feeding wheel ,7. f I

An embodiment of a tube compressor provided with a can opener is shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, inwhich the movement of the displaceable members is carried out by means ofa lever mechanism. A bifurcated handle 37 has a pair of branches 38 pivoted at the plates 4,5 and provided with knee levers 39 carrying the axis 20 which is displaceable crosswise to its longitudinal direction in arc-shaped slots 40 in the plates. When the handle is shut against the leg 2, the roller 19 and the slitter 41 secured to one of the knee levers are displaced against the roller 6 and the feeding wheel 7, respectively.

However, such mechanisms are much more circumstantial than the embodiment of the invention first described in the foregoing, and make the device more expensive. It is possible to provide these handoperated apparatus with a motor or a connection to a motor in which case the crank may be excluded. Moreover, it may be advantageous to provide a gear between the rollers 6 and 19 and/or between the wheel 7 and the slitter 14 in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 4, 7 and 9.

The science of the invention includes apparatus designed on several principles, and here have just some examples been indicated. It may be noted that what is described as a body of the apparatus may have several shapes, e. g., just a shaft or a cross piece. All such apparatus which fulfil two functions, tube squeezing and can opening, are included in the scope of the invention and what is included is defined in the following claims.

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A tube compressor combined with a can opener comprising a main body with a leg and a cross piece, a pair of plates fixed to said cross piece in spaced relationship to each other, a driving shaft extending between said plates and entering holes through the same and provided with a roller and means for rotating said shaft and roller, said cross piece provided with a counter pressure member-in proximity of said roller, a feeding wheel secured to one end of said shaft and a slitter mounted on said cross piece in proximity of said wheel, wherein a can opener is constituted of said slitter and wheel of which one is movable relative to the other into and out of cooperative can opening relationship, and a tube compressor is constituted of said roller and counter pressure member of which one is movable relative to the other into and out of cooperative tube pressing relationship, and an arrangement is provided for forcing said slitter and wheel and said counter pressure member and roller, respectively, simultanously into such an operative relationship and after that out of such a relationship.

2. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that the holes in said plates are oblong and the driving shaft thus displaceable crosswise to its axial direction between two extreme positions defined by the respective ends of said holes, one such extreme position defining the operative relationship and the other extreme position defining a separated relationship of said slitter and wheel and said roller and counter pressure member, respectively.

3. A tube compressor according to claim 2, characterized in that the driving shaft is adapted to be displaced to and fro the extreme positions in dependence of rotation of the roller providing a friction force against said counter pressure member.

4. A tube compressor according to claim 3, characterized in that said roller and counter pressure member have abutting surfaces provided with elements engaging each other, such as teeth, positioned on the roller and the counter pressure member, respectively, thereby increasing the friction force therebetween.

5. A tube compressor according to claim 2, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis in said pair of plates.

6. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis carried, as well as said slitter, by a flat piece, slidably mounted on said plate, and that said arrangement is constituted of a mechanism at each plate comprising an excenter disk rotatably mounted on said shaft and fitting in a circular opening in said flat piece, a driving plate nonrotatably fastened to the shaft and constituting a dummy coupling between the shaft and the excenter disk, said dummy coupling connecting said shaft to the excenter disk at a shift position, when the shaft is rotated in one direction, and disconnecting the shaft from the excenter disk at the shift position, when the shaft is rotated in the other direction; said shift position of the excenter disk corresponding to cooperative relationship for said rollers as well as for the wheel and the slitter.

7. A tube compressor according to claim I, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis carried, as well as said slitter, by a flat piece slidably mounted on said plate and that said arrangement is constituted of a mechanism at each plate comprising an excenter disk rotatably mounted on said shaft and fitting in a circular opening in said flat piece, a bifurcated handle having two arms each one secured to each excenter disk and swingable around a fulcrum constituted of the driving shaft between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said rollers as well as for said wheel and slitter, and the other a separated relationship therebetween.

8. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said arrangement is constituted of a mechnism at each plate, comprising an excenter disk rotatably mounted on said shaft and fitting in a circular opening in said plate, a bifurcated handle having two arms, each one secured to each excenter disk and swingable around a fulcrum constituted of the center of the excenter disk between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said counter pressure member and roller as well as for said wheel and slitter, and the other a separated relationship therebetween.

9. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis carried, as well as said slitter by a flat piece slidably mounted on said plate, and that said arrangement is constituted of a lever mechanism at each plate comprising an arm of a bifurcated handle, a pivot fastened to the plate and rotatably supporting said arm, which is joined with said flat piece, said handle turnable around a fulcrum constituted of said pivots between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said rollers as well as for said wheel and slitter, and the other a separated relationship therebetween.

10. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said arrangement is constituted of a lever mechanism at each plate comprising an arm of a bifurcated handle, a pivot fastened to the plate and turnably supporting said arm, siad driving shaft rotatably supported in a hole in each arm, said handle turnable between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said counter pressure member and roller as well as for said wheel and slitter,

and the other a separated relationship therebetween. 

1. A tube compressor combined with a can opener comprising a main body with a leg and a cross piece, a pair of plates fixed to said cross piece in spaced relationship to each other, a driving shaft extending between said plates and entering holes through the same and provided with a roller and means for rotating said shaft and roller, said cross piece provided with a counter pressure member in proximity of said roller, a feeding wheel secured to one end of said shaft and a slitter mounted on said cross piece in proximity of said wheel, wherein a can opener is constituted of said slitter and wheel of which one is movable relative to the other into and out of cooperative can opening relationship, and a tube compressor is constituted of said roller and counter pressure member of which one is movable relative to the other into and out of cooperative tube pressing relationship, and an arrangement is provided for forcing said slitter and wheel and said counter pressure member and roller, respectively, simultanously into such an operative relationship and after that out of such a relationship.
 2. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that the holes in said plates are oblong and the driving shaft thus displaceable crosswise to its axial direction between two extreme positions defined by the respective ends of said holes, one such extreme position defining the operative relationship and the other extreme position defining a separated relationship of said slitter and wheel and said roller and counter pressure member, respectively.
 3. A tube compressor according to claim 2, characterized in that the driving shaft is adapted to be displaced to and fro the extreme positions in dependence of rotation of the roller providing a friction force against said counter pressure member.
 4. A tube compressor according to claim 3, characterized in that said roller and counter pressure member have abutting surfaces provided with elements engaging each other, such as teeth, positioned on the roller and the counter pressure member, respectively, thereby increasing the friction force therebetween.
 5. A tube compressor according to claim 2, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis in said pair of plates.
 6. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis carried, as well as said slitter, by a flat piece, slidably mounted on said plate, and that said arrangement is constituted of a mechanism at each plate comprising an excenter disk rotatably mounted on said shaft and fitting in a circular opening in said flat piece, a driving plate nonrotatably fastened to the shaft and constituting a dummy coupling between the shaft and the excenter disk, said dummy coupling connecting said shaft to the excenter disk at a shift position, when the shaft is rotated in one direction, and disconnecting the shaft from the excenter disk at the shift position, when the shaft is rotated in the other direction; said shift position of the excenter disk corresponding to cooperative relationship for said rollers as well as for the wheel and the slitter.
 7. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis carried, as well as said slitter, by a flat piece slidably mounted on said plate and that said arrangement is constituted of a mechanism at each plate comprising an excenter disk rotatably mounted on said shaft and fitting in a circular opening in said flat piece, a bifurcated handle having two arms each one secured to each excenter disk and swingable around a fulcrum constituted of the driving shaft between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said rollers as well as for said wheel and slitter, and the other a separated relationship therebetween.
 8. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said arrangement is constituted of a mechnism at each plate, comprising an excenter disk rotatably mounted on said shaft and fitting in a circular opening in said plate, a bifurcated handle having two arms, each one secured to each excenter disk and swingable around a fulcrum constituted of the center of the excenter disk between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said counter pressure member and roller as well as for said wheel and slitter, and the other a separated relationship therebetween.
 9. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said counter pressure member is constituted of a second roller rotatably supported at each end by means of an axis carried, as well as said slitter by a flat piece slidably mounted on said plate, and that said arrangement is constituted of a lever mechanism at each plate comprising an arm of a bifurcated handle, a pivot fastened to the plate and rotatably supporting said arm, which is joined with said flat piece, said handle turnable around a fulcrum constituted of said pivots between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said rollers as well as for said wheel and slitter, and the other a separated relationship therebetween.
 10. A tube compressor according to claim 1, characterized in that said arrangement is constituted of a lever mechanism at each plate comprising an arm of a bifurcated handle, a pivot fastened to the plate and turnably supporting said arm, siad driving shaft rotatably supported in a hole in each arm, said handle turnable between two extreme positions, one of which defining the cooperative relationship for said counter pressure member and roller as well as for said wheel and slitter, and the other a separated relationship therebetween. 